Priestley, S., Crooks, K., Tizzard, A. and Bunce, A. (2017). Archaeological Investigation and Recording No 3 Well Street Exeter EX4 6QR. Border Archaeology. https://doi.org/10.5284/1046449. Cite this using datacite

Title
Title
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Title:		 Archaeological Investigation and Recording No 3 Well Street Exeter EX4 6QR
Series
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Series:		 Border Archaeology unpublished report series
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Downloads:
borderar1-224498_1.pdf (4 MB) : Download
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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International Licence
DOI
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DOI
https://doi.org/10.5284/1046449
Publication Type
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Publication Type:		 Report (in Series)
Abstract
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Abstract:		 A well is shown within this site on maps from the 16C onwards, and it has been interpreted for some time as the location of the holy well of St. Sidwell. Local folklore suggests the well sprang up when Sidwell, a young Saxon Christian woman living in Exeter in the 8th century, was killed at the site. Folklore aside, the well became an important water source supplying the city through a system of lead pipes until the replacement of the latter with ones on different routes and from other wells around 1347. The aim of the archaeological investigation was to identify any surviving structural remains associated with the well. An octagonal structure of fine local Heavitree masonry was discovered and is believed to represent the latest, probably late medieval phase of the original well structure. The well had been disturbed by a brick conduit on the west side. The octagonal well was substantial enough to have supported some form of roofing structure and was surrounded by a cobbled surface with a drainage channel respecting the octagonal form. The cobbled gully had been much disturbed by later activity. A well-constructed heavitree stone wall - L shaped in plan - adjacent to the medieval well may have originally formed part of an enclosure. Borehole evaluation of the well's stratigraphy revealed 2m of clays above peaty organic material just above the bedrock at 3.3m. This strongly suggests that the site was originally a marshy area surrounding a natural spring formed between bedrock strata, which the well structure subsequently formalised. A later 19th -century brick well had been cut through the medieval cobbling surrounding the octagonal well and may represent an attempt to supersede the medieval well.
Author
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Author:		 S Priestley
K Crooks
A Tizzard
A Bunce
Publisher
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Publisher:		 Border Archaeology
Other Person/Org
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Other Person/Org:		 Historic England (OASIS Reviewer)
Exeter City HER (OASIS Reviewer)
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Year of Publication:		 2017
Locations
Locations
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Locations:
District: Exeter
County: Devon
Site: 3 Well Street Exeter
Parish: EXETER
Country: England
Grid Reference: 292558, 93201 (Easting, Northing)
Subjects / Periods
Subjects / Periods
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Subjects / Periods:
WELL (Monument Type England)
HOLY WELL (Monument Type England)
JUG (Object England)
EXCAVATION (Event)
Identifiers
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Identifiers:
OASIS Id: borderar1-224498
OBIB: BA1212WSE
Note
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Note:		 52 pages, A4, bound.
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OASIS (OASIS)
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Relations:
Project archive: https://doi.org/10.5284/1045359
Created Date
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Created Date:		 19 Feb 2018